Not one king's wealth he thought them, nor of

ten, Though greatest of the rulers over men: The fun his sire this privilege assign'a, [kind; To be in flocks and herds more rich than all min'I he so still increas'd ; no plague e'er render'd vain The gainful labour of the shepherd swain; Year following year his industry was blest, (best. More calves were rtar'd, and still the last were No cows e'er cast their young, or e'er declin'd, The calves were chiefly of the female kind. 140 With these three hundred bulls, a comely sight, Whose horns were crooked, and whose legs were

white; And twice an hundred of bright glossy red, By whom the business of increase was sped: But twelve, the flower of all, exulting run In the green pastures, sacred to the sun; The stately swan was not so silver white, And in the meads they took im stable delight: These, when gaunt lions from the mountain's

brow Descend terrific on the herds below, 1to

Rush to the war, the savage foe they gore.
Their eyes look death, anil horribly they roar.
But most majestic these bold bull* among
Stalk'd Phaeton, the sturdy and the strong;
So radiant, so refulgent from afar,
The shepherd-swains compar'd him to a star.
When round the shoulders of the chief he spy'd.
Alarming sight! the lion's tawny hide,
Full at his slank he aim'd his iron head,
And proudly doom'd the matchless hero dead : 160
But watchful Hercules, devoid of fear,
Seiz'd his left horn, and stopp'd his mad career;
Prope to the earth his stubborn neck he prest.
Then writh'd him round, and biuis'd his ample

chest,
At one bold push exerted all his strength.
And high in air upheld him at arm's length.
Through all the wondering train amazement ran,
Silent they gaz'd, and thought him more than man.

rhyleus and Hercules (the day far spent) Lest the rich pastures, and to His went: I JO

The footpath first, which tow'rd the city lay,
Led from the stalls, but narrow was the way:
Through vineyards next it past, and gloomy glades,
Hard to distinguish in the greenwood shades.
The devious way as noble t'hyltus led,
To his right shoulder he inclin'd his head,
And slowly marching through the verdant grove,
7 hus mild bespoke the progeoy of Jove:

'By your last bold achievement it appears, 'Great chief, your fame long since has reach'd 'my cars, 180

* For here arriv'd a youthful Argive swain, ■ From Helice that borders on the main,

• Who for a uuth among th' Epcans told,

• That late he saw a Grecian, brave and bold,
'Slay a fell lion, sell to husbandmen,

'That in the Nemcan forest made his den:
4 W hether the chief from sacred Argos came,

* Or proud Mycene, or Tirynthc claim

1 His birth, I heard not: yet he trae'd his line, 'If true my tale, from Perseus the divine. 190

'No Greek but you cnnld such a toil sustain;

'I reason from that mighty monster slain.

'A perilous encounter '. whose rough hide

'Protects your shoulders, and adorns your side.

'Say then, if you are he, the Grecian bold,

• Of whom the Argive's wond'rous tale was told 1

'Say, what dread weapon drunk the monster's

'blood, 'And how he wander'd to the Nemean wood, 'For not in Greece such savages are found, 'No beasts thus huge infest Achaian ground; :■:.<.■ 'She breeds the ravenous wolf, the bear, the boar, 'Fernicious monsters! but she breeds no more. 'Some wonder'd at accounts so strange and new, 'Thought the Greek boastful, and bis tale un

'true.' Thus Phyleus spoke, and as the path grew wide, He walk'd attentive by the hero's side, To hear distinct the toil, sustaining man, Who thus, obsequious to the prince, began; "Son of Augeus, what of me you heard "Is strictly true, nor has the stranger err'd. 310 "But since you wish to know, my tongue shall

"tell, [sell,

"From whence the monster came, and how he "Though many Greeks have mentinn'd this affair "None can the truth with certainty declare. "'Til thought some god.by vengeful angersway'd, "Sent this sore plague for sacrifice unpaid, "To punish the Phoroneans: like a flood "He delug'd the I'iUan fields with blood: "The Bembinæans, miserable men, •' Felt his chief rage, the neighbours to hi* den. "The hardy task, this hideous beast to kill, "Eurystheus first enjoin'd me to fulfil, "But hop'd me slain: on the bold conflict bent. "Arm'd to the field with bow and darts I went, "A solid club, of rude wild olive made, "Rou^h in hisrugged rindmy rij>ht hand sway'd "On Helicon's fair hill the tree I found, "And with the roots I wrench'd it from thi

*■ ground.

"When the close covert I approach'd, where laj *' The lordly lion lurking for his prey, 331

"I bent my bow, firm fix'd the string, and strait "Notch'd on the nerve the messenger of fate: "Then circumspect I pry'd with curious eye, "First, unoblerv'd, the ravenous beast to spy. "Now mid-day reign'd; I neither could explore "His paw's broad print, nor hear his hideous roar "Nor labouring rustic find, nor shepherd swain, "Nor cowherd tending cattle on the plain, "To point the lion's lair: fear chill'd them all. "And kept the herds and herdsmen in the slaJL aa, "I search'd the groves and saw my foe at length "Then was the moment to exert my strength. "Long ere dim evening c!o»'d, he sought his del "Gorg'd with the flesh of cattle and of men: "With flaughter stain'd hi* squalid mane ap

a pear'd, [sme-ar'd,

"Stern was his face, his chest with blood be. "And with his pliant tongue he lick'd his gory'

"beard.

"Mid shady shrubs I hide myself with care, "Expecting he might issue {torn his hir»

* Fall at his flank I sent a shafr, in vain, 250

* rbe harmless shaft rebounded on the plain.

■ Stuun'diat the shock, from earth the savage

"rab'd

* KU tawny head, and all around him pnz'il:

* Wondering from whence the feather'd ven

* geance slew, "He goaui'd hia horrid teeth, tremendous to the

"view. "Vez'd chat the first had unavailing 8ed, "A second arrow from the nerve 1 sped:

■ fn hit broad chest, the mansion os his heart,

"I laaach'd the shaft with ineffectual art; •

* Hj hair, hia hide the feather'd death repel;

■ Before his sect it innocently fell. 261

* tcug'J, once more, I try'd my bow to draw, "Then first hi* foe the furious monster saw:

* He U&'d his sturdy sides with stem delight, "Aad rising in his rage prepar'd for fight.

"Wail instant ire his main erected grew,
'Hu hair look'd horrid, of a brindled hue;

* Crciing his back, he seem'd in act to bound, 'Aad Ifr* a bow he bent his body round:

'As when the fig-tree skilful wheelers take, 270 'For tolling chariots rapid wheels to make;

* The fellies first, in fires that gently glow,

* Gradual they heat, and like a circle bow;

* Awhile in carves the pliant timber stands,

* Then springs at once elastic from their hands.

* Oo Sbc thus from afar, his foe to wound,

* Sfrcag the fell lion with impetuous bound.

* Mi Vest hand held my darts direct before,

* An»d my bread a thick strong garb 1 wore; "Mt rsr>t, club guarded, dealt a deadly blow 188 "full m the temples of the rushing sue:

Though thia noble Idylliumis by far the longest sf isy that Theocritus has left us, containing, cxcssrvt of the beginning which is lost, no left than ■M verses, yet the commentators, Scaliger, Catassva, and D. Heinsius, have not left us one finfit rssrodation or note upon it: and therefore I i»_ trouble the reader with but sew observations: 13 _i.ese gray old critic, have been lavish of their rsaarka upon the 27th Idyllium, infinitely the cad oofeeoe of all the pieces that have been attrsVvrced to Theocritus. One remark is very ob1x1. that the first part of this Idyllium, as far as ver. 17s in the translation, is entirely pastoral and •ktui; containing beautiful descriptions of mca:^>i, pastures hills, vales, rivers, shepherd*, herdsran, and their stalls and dogs,flocks and herds intœfrable : the second part U an account of a uaucu* exploit performed by Hercules, and therebn use whole must surely belong to the Arcadian foetry.

Ver. 6. The ancients erected statues to Merory m the public roads, as guides to travellers, wfczzttl.ej called Herat:?; they were of marble

Till black as night the swelling tempest ihovrj
The clouds condensing as the west-wind blows.

Ver. in. Thus Virgil fays in regard to the management of bulls,

Aut intus clauses satura ad prxsepia servant.

Gar. 3. 1X4. Ver. 1x6. Thus Virgil,

Ibat rex obsitus aevo;

Et comitem Æneam juxta natumque tenebat. B. S.

Ver. 133. We may here observe, that Theocritus makes the great increase of the herds of Augeas, to arise from the gift and influence of the fun, his father.

Ver. 140. This circumstance must occasion a prodigious propagation : thos exceedingly increased the cattle of Jacob. Genesis xxi. 30—43." Thy cattle is m>w increased to a multitude: and. the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle." And chap. xxii. 38. Jacob says, " These twenty years have 1 been with thee; thy ewes and thy slie-gbats have not cast their yooog."

Ver. 149. The Greek ward is iV«, and" in thin place properly signifies Horn, as it docs also in the Iliad, B. 15. ver. 58*.; and the bull Phaeton's being alarmed at seeing the slein os the Nemean hon. ver. 158. seems in a very agreeable manner to determine this construction.

Ver. l8x. Was once a city of Achaia, three quarters of a league from Corinth, but swallowed up by the sea.

Ver. 186. Thus Virgil,
Tu mactus vastum Nemea sub rupe leonem.

Æn. 8. 194. Beneath thy arm the Nemean monster fell. Pitt.

Ver. iM. A city near Argos where Hercules wa< nursed, whence he is called Tirynthiui.

Ver. 190. Was grandfather to Amphitryon, the husband of Alcmena.

Ver. 200. Thus Horace, Quale portentum neque militaris Dauoia in latis aiit cseulctis, &c. B. I. OJ. 23.

Ver. 101. At rabidx tigres absent, et sova leonutri semJna. firg. Gtor. 3. I jr. Ver. it I. At fi tantus amor cases cognoseerc nostros.

Æn. B. a. IC. Ver. liy. Inhabitants ofa city in Argot: Phorencus, the sou of Inachus, succeeded his father enlarged his territories, and gathered the people: who were before dispersed about the country into one city, which was called from him Phoronimn Vi-iverfil H:Ji. B. 1. Ci,. itS. Virgil compares Pyrrhus to a flood. Æn. a. a*o6. Not half so fierce the foamy deluge bounds, And bursts resistless o'er the levcll'd mounds; Pours down the vale, and roaring o'er the plain Sweeps herds and hinds, and houses to the main.

-Pa.;. Vcr.H*

Uc Juros mille laborct

F.fpei fob Eurystheo, satis Junonis iniquz, Pamkril. -Æ». Æ. 8- »9I

The thovnu»d labours of (he hero's hands, ZnjoinM by proud Eurystheus' stern commands. Ver. 114. Virgil fays of Hercules:

Rtput irmo manu, nodisque gravatum

Saber. Æn. B. 8. axe.

Ver 2ji. Thus Pandarus in Homer, II. 4.
Couching low,
Piu tie (harp arrow to the well-strung how.

Post. Ver. 137. OTid speaking of the Calydonian hoar, says

Ddfug'.nH poptili; nee fe, nisi mcenibus urbis, JJfc potaat tutos. Mit. B. 8. 298.

Ver. 356. Thus Hector is vexed, that his lance did ca puietrate the armour of Ajar, II. B. 14. Tbea b-ki the disappointed Trojan drew, Acd eurt'd the lance that unavailing slew.

Ptf: Ver. (64. There is. an image in Virgil very leti-ir to thi»; B. 12. v. 6. " Turn clemum," &c As, piere'd at distance by the hunter's dart, Tie Libyan Li00 roascs at the smart; Acd ioodry roaring traverses the plain; SKT3ja his fides; and rears his horrid mane; lacji Icrrasi at the spear; the foe defies, Aac gnadi hi* teeth for rage, and to the cernbat acs. Pitt.

Ver. 270. The Greek is, i;/nx, cafrifeus, a will fig-tree: the fame word occurs in Homer, 11. B. »l. 37i which Mr. Pope renders a sycamore;

As from a sycamore, his sounding steel

Lopp'd the green arms, to spoke a chariot wheel.

Ver. %■)%. Thus Cadmus encountering with the dragun;

Instantiaque ora retardat

Cuspide present.1. Ovid. Mrtam. B. 3,

Ver. aj7. The construction of this passage it perplexed, but I hope 1 have hit upon the right, as the circumstance of Hercules's heaving the lion, from the ground, is exactly the fame as happened to the bull Phaeton,

And high in air upheld him at arm's length.

Ver. l6i.

Indeed the words in the original are very similar.

Ver. 298. Thomson in his Seasons, joins this epithet to the hyena: " The keen hyena, felled of the fen."

Ver. 306. Aventinus, the son of Hercules, is represented by Virgil in the same dress.

Ipse pedes tegmen torqueus immane leonis, &c.

Æn. B. 7. 66i.

He stalk'd before his host; and, wide dispread,
A lion's teeth grinu'd horrid o'er his head;
Then fought the palace in this strange attire, J
And look'd as stern, and dreadful as his sire.

Pia.

Lodg'd in a lentistc-tree, conceal'd from sight,
Astonilh'd Pentheus saw the mystic rite;
Autonce first the latent monarch spy'd,
With horrid yellings down the hill me hy'd,
The orgies of the frantic god o'erthrew,
Which no profane, unhallow'd eye must view, at>
Maddening she rag'd, the rest all rag'd : and dread
Supplied with pinions Pentheus as he fled;
He hop'd by flight their fury to elude:
With robes tuck'd up they eagerly pursu'd I
Then Pentheus thus: " What meant this rage I

"forbear;"
Autonoe thus: * You'll feel before yon hear.'
His mother roar'd, and snatch d hit head away.
Loud as the female lion o'er her prey:

Mr. Warton observes, " That Euripides, in his Bacchantes, has given a very 6ne description of the Bacchanalian women tearing Pentheus in pieces, for secretly inspecting their mysteries, which is worked up with the greatest sire, and the truest poetical enthusiasm. Theocritus has likewise nobly described this event.

Ver. I. These were all sisters and the daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia.

Ver. 5. Anacreon, Epig. 4. describes three Bacchæ, and ivy is one of their oblations to Bacchus:

First Heliconias with a thyrsus past,
Xanthippe next, and Glauca was the last;
Lo '. dancing down the mountains they repair,
And grateful gifts to jolly Bacchus bear;
Wreaths of the rustling ivy for his head,
With grapes delicious, and a kid well fed. F. F.

Ver. 8. Thus Virgil, Ed. 5.

En quatuor aras:
Eccc duas tibi, Daphni, quoque altaria Phœbo.

Ver. 15. The story of Pentheus is told by Ovid in the Metara. B. 3. in a manner something different, which I shall give in Mr. Addison's translation.

Here the rash Pentheus, with unhallow'd eyes,
The howliug dames and mystic orgies spies.
JHis mether sternly view'd him where he stood,
And kindled into madness as she view'd:
Her leafy javelin at her son she cast,
And cries, "The boar that lays our country
"waste!

"The boar, my sisters! aim the fatal dart,
"And strike the brindled monster to the heart."
Pentheus astonish'd heard the dismal sound,
And sees the yelling matrons gathering round,
iie fees, and weeps at his approaching fate,
And begs fer mercy, and repents too late.

3

"Help! help I my aunt Autonoe, he cry'd;
"Remember how your own Actæon dy'd."
Deaf to his cries, the frantic matron cropi
One stretch'd-out arm, the other Ino lops.
In vain does Pentheus to his mother sue,
And the raw bleeding stumps presents to view:
His mother howl'd, and heedless of his prayer
Her trembling hand lhe twisted in his hair,
"And this, she cry'd, shall be Agave's share,
When from the neck his struggling head lhe tore,
And in her hands the ghastly visage bore.
With pleasure all the hideous trunk survey;
Then pull'd and tote the mangled limbs away,
As starting in the pangs of death it lay.
Soon as the wood its leafy honours casts,
Blown off and scatter'd by autumnal blasts,
With such a sudden death lay Pentheus slain,
And in a thousand pieces strew'd the plain.
Ver. 27.

Quid .' caput absciffum demens cum portat Agave
Nati infelicis, sibi turn furiosa videtur?

Nor. B. 2. Sal. 3.

Ver. 34. There is great beauty in the original. EJ zri),(r:fuc, Kxi u Tlittr.x, ^.jooraj, which, arising from the similarity of the words nyfn/ui and iWna, cannot be kept up in the translation.

Ver 45. Ovid mentions the fame thing, Met. B. 3. 310.

Impersectus adhuc infans genetricis ab alvo
Eripitur, patrioque tencr (si credere dignum)
Insuitur femori, maternaque tempora complet.

Ver. 46. She was the mother of Bacchus, and sister to Ino, Agave, and Autonoe.

Ver. jo. There is a similar thought in Bion, Idyl. 6. 8

It ill becomes frail mortals to define

What's best and fittest of the works divine, f. F.